The government is making every possible effort to meet its commitments to
its partners and materialise the programme for fiscal consolidation of
the country, ensuring the country's stay in the euro, finance minister
Yannis Stournaras said in a document submitted to parliament regarding
the new package of austerity measures being drafted.

The document was in reply to a question tabled by Democratic Left
(DIMAR) MP Odysseas Voudouris on horizontal (across-the-board) cuts to
salaries and pensions, and stated that "in a follow-up to the extended
pre-electoral period, the finance ministry is called on to face the loss
of crucial time for the development of the fiscal indicators" and that
"the effort being made concerns the formulation of an overall strategic
framework that will boost the Greek economy and broaden the tax base,
tackling tax evasion and financial crime, and will take the country out
of the recession zone".

"We respect the sacrifices of the Greek people and set as our basic
priority the protection of the vulnerable social groups from additional
burdens," Stournaras says in the document, adding that "to date, following
examination of the recommendations that have been submitted and the need
to protect, in the midst of the crisis, the core of the social benefits
and distribute the burdens fairly, we are drafting a composite mix of
expenditure cutbacks", and noting that "as soon as the final decisions
are taken there will be formal announcements by the government".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Athens to express support
for the Greek government and the "ambitious reforms" it has implemented,
spokesman Steffen Seibert noted here on Monday, in response to repeated
press questions focusing on the former's visit to the Greek capital
on Tuesday.

He confirmed the chancellor's meetings with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras
and President Karolos Papoulias, clarifying that the full programme of
her visit has not been finalised as yet.

The two leaders will discuss the situation in Greece and progress of
reforms, Seibert added, expressing the German government's respect
for Greece's efforts. The measures are implemented through "unbearable
sacrifices", he emphasised.

Seibert referred to the progress made by Greece in meeting a goal
of reducing the budget deficit, as a percentange of GDP, to 2.5 pct,
and cutting labour costs by at least 10 pct, while he underlined that
Germany wants to assist Greece stabilise its position in the eurozone. He
clarified that this can happen only through the implementation of reforms
agreed to in exchange for the economic assistance.

The German government spokesman noted that "Europe is in an existential
crisis" and that it is a positive fact when leaders of member-states
exchange visits in order to talk.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to land at Athens International
Airport at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday for a one-day visit to Greece seen as
a symbolic sign of support for the crisis-stricken country.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will meet the German Chancellor
at the airport, where there will be an official reception ceremony. The
two leaders will then go to the Greek premier's offices at the Maximos
Mansion, where the official meeting between them will take place.

Merkel is due to be received by President of the Republic Karolos
Papoulias at 4:45 p.m. and will then head for the Hilton hotel,
accompanied by the Greek prime minister, in order to attend an event
organised by the Greek-German Chamber of Commerce.

Immediately afterward the end of the event at the Hilton, she will depart
for the airport.

Democratic Left (DIMAR) in an announcement on Monday says that German
Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Greece gives the opportunity to the
government to promote a political solution to the country's problem.

On her arrival in Greece on Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel
will find herself met by peaceful but massive demonstrations including
all Greeks, main opposition Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA)
leader Alexis Tsipras predicted on Monday.

Commenting on the visit, Tsipras said that Greek Prime Minister Antonis
Samaras should ensure that their talks did not cover only the additional
billions being demanded of Greek workers and pensioners but also whether
the German company Hochtief intended to pay more than 600 million euro
in unpaid VAT owed to the Greek state, or whether German authorities
intend to make public the testimony of fugitive Siemens executive Mihalis
Christoforakos to a German court, so that Greeks might find out who
received kickbacks from the German company.

SYRIZA's leader stressed that the Greek people would "provide an answer"
through peaceful but massive demonstrations on Tuesday, adding that what
was happening in Greece was "both unprecedented and criminal".

"In other words, with a programme whose own inventors have admitted is a
dead end, they are insisting on its implementation, on an implementation
that is leading us to social disintegration. And the Greek people can
no longer accept this crime," he added.

According to Tsipras, protests during the visit will be a "message of
democracy" reaching far beyond Greece's borders and will provide the
trigger for a major change of course for Greece and for Europe.

"Everyone must know that if Merkel comes to Greece without having anything
more to say apart from what has been said over the previous period, in
other words that we must implement a failed programme, then this visit
will act as a boomerang for those that inspired it. Because it will be
the trigger for all Europe and all European people to learn that Greek
citizens, the vast majority of Greek society, is against the prospect
of the voluntary suicide that the leaders of Europe are proposing to
us today. In that sense, therefore, this visit might be very useful in
order for Ms. Merkel to realise that this policy cannot go on and change
her strategy," he said.

Tsipras made the statements shortly after a meeting with the civil
aviation service staff union OSYPA, during which he expressed his
opposition to the privatisation of local airports, centring his criticism
on the failings of the existing deal with Hochtief for the new Athens
airport at Spata.

In a reply to the comments by Tsipras, government spokesman Simos
Kedikoglou said only that Tsipras had "repeated his well-known dogma:
first his party and its components and then Greece".

[06] SYRIZA and Die Linke party leader to attend GSEE-ADEDY rally
on Tuesday

Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) Parliamentary Group president Alexis
Tsipras and the president of the German Die Linke Party (Left Party)
Bernd Riexinger will be participating in the rally called by the General
Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE) and the Civil Servants Supreme
Administrative Council (ADEDY) at Syntagma Square in downtown Athens at
1 p.m. on Tuesday, in light of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's one-day
visit to Athens the same day.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) secretary general Aleka Papariga,
heading a party delegation, will be attending a rally by the PAME labour
group in Omonia Square at the same time on the same occasion.

The municipal workers' union POE-OTA on Monday announced that its members
will hold a work stoppage, beginning at noon on Tuesday, to participate
in a protest to take place in downtown Athens at 13 p.m.

The sector's trade union called on its member-organisations to facilitate
the mass participation of municipal workers in the rallies, scheduled
in view of the German chancellor's visit to Athens.

The Greek police on Monday announced that all open-air gatherings and
rallies will be banned in large sections of central Athens between 9:00
a.m. and 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday, as a security precaution to "preserve
the peace" during a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The ban also extends to the sections of the above roads that comprise the
limits of City of Athens, the section of the Attiki Odos highway from
the Athens International airport until the junction with the Hymettus
ring road with Katehaki Avenue, the section of Katehaki Avenue from the
exit of the ring road up to the junction with Messogion Avenue and for
a distance of 100 metres on either side of these (Attiki and Katehaki)
and on all bridges, overpasses and crossings along their length and in
the surrounding region policed by the Athens airport.

The ban extends for a wide area around the Hilton hotel, where Merkel
will be staying during her visit, and along the routes of her planned
itinerary during her stay.

PASOK is opposed to the general and absolute ban on rallies imposed for
the German chancellor's visit, PASOK spokeswoman Fofi Gennimata said
on Monday.

"Firstly, we far that it will have the opposite results, since it will be
used by some as an excuse for demonstrations that go beyond the limits
of legality, and secondly, it presents the visit as a matter of public
order and security when it is a very good opportunity to present in
a uniform and convincing way the Greek issue and the national line,
concerning the need for a comprehensive agreement for the country's
final exit from the crisis as soon as possible".

The main opposition Radical Left Coalition's (SYRIZA) Parliamentary
Group, in a statement on Monday charged that the government with "its
haste to exhume a junta legislative decree on banning gatherings, close
the Metro stations and create a climate of fear proves how much it fears
the massive presence of the people".

Referring to an earlier announcement by the Greek police that all open-air
gatherings and rallies will be banned in central Athens between 9:00
a.m. and 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday, as a security precaution during a visit by
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the SYRIZA statement further said that
"our people will not be afraid, it will make them afraid", adding that
"their mass and peaceful participation in tomorrow's (Tuesday) rally in
Syntagma Square will constitute a live referendum against the policy of
austerity. A clear no to the new barbaric measures. A message of popular
sovereignty and democracy that will be sent to all of Europe and will
signal the beginning of a big political change".

The General Confederation of Employees of Greece (GSEE), Greece's largest
umbrella trade union organisation representing private-sector workers,
on Monday strongly condemned a decision to ban demonstrations and rallies
over a large swathe of central Athens on Tuesday, when German Chancellor
Angela Merkel visits Greece.

Slamming the ban as "unprecedented" and "undemocratic", GSEE said that
social and economic problems could not be solved through bans, police
measures and threats of legal sanctions but by changing pointless
policies that only succeeded in leading society further into poverty
and the economy into ever-greater recession.

Both GSEE and the civil servants' union ADEDY stress that a planned rally
in Syntagma Square will be carried out as planned at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday
and have announced a public-sector work stoppage in Attica from noon until
3:00 p.m. The PAME trade union group affiliated to the Communist Party of
Greece (KKE) has scheduled a separate rally at Syntagma at the same time.

Trade union protests, beginning with a GSEE-ADEDY rally in front of the
finance ministry, are scheduled to start on Monday evening at 6:00 p.m.

[12] Venizelos: Clear statement sought from Eurogroup that process has
visible end

PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos said Monday that Greece must seek
and expect a clear statement from the Eurogroup that the process has a
visible end.

Speaking on state television Net and referring to the Eurogroup meeting
later on Monday, Venizelos said that "we are not expecting anything
final, but we surely must seek and expect a clear statement that the
process has a visible end very soon".

On German chancellor Angela Merkel's imminent visit to Athens on Tuesday,
Venizelos said that "Mrs. Merkel is welcome", adding that "we would have
wanted her to have come much sooner", adding that he will be present at
her Athens talks with the government.

"I am at the disposal of the prime minister if he wishes to invite us,
with Mr. Kouvelis (Democratic Left leader) to the meeting" premier Antonis
Samaras is scheduled to have with Merkel, Venizelos said, opining that
this would be of assistance to the country since Merkel "because of
Germany, plays a decisive role, together with 3-4 other factors".

The Democratic Left (DIMAR), one of the junior members of the three-party
coalition government, on Monday expressed its disagreement with a
government-imposed minimum wage set by law. The party criticised the
labour ministry's announcement for the timeframe for establishing and
implementing a new mechanism for setting the minimum wage as "at the
very least, unfortunate".

DIMAR said that the coalition partners had agreed and included in their
policy agreement that the government would seek a revision of the loan
agreement so as to restore the "collective autonomy and validity" of
collective labour agreements in accordance with established prevailing
European laws and practices, where the level of wages in the private
sector - including the minimum wage - was agreed through collective
bargaining between employers and trade unions.

"The level of wages in the private sector must be agreed between the
social partners, with first and foremost the settlement of the minimum
wage. Where the state contributes through the state budget, such as
issues concerning related benefits, then it must have its special role,"
DIMAR's announcement said.

[14] KKE's Papariga calls on the people to 'participate in offensive
struggle'

Opposition Communist party (KKE) general secretary Aleka Papariga on
Monday invited the workers and the financially weak to an "organized
and mass offensive struggle against the monopolies".

In a press conference at the party headquarters in Perissos, Athens,
she underlined that only an offensive struggle will bring results.

Papariga noted that the legislative clause that will define the minimum
wage constitutes abolition of the collective labour contract and
stressed that the essence of trade unions is being altered by being
turned into charitable networks aimed at familiarizing people with
poverty and exploitation.

Asked what will be KKE's message to Merkel, she said that her party
refuses to play the game that sees the EU problem as a "Merkel problem".

Responding to a question on whether the protest mobilizations are
indicative of political developments, Papariga stated that the answer
lies with the trade unions, the mobilizations at the workplace and the
direction of the struggle.

Commenting on the upcoming visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu to Athens, she said that "objectively speaking, a joint
exploitation of natural resources in the Aegean, in essence, means
abandonment of all efforts supposedly made by a government in support
of its country's sovereign rights."

Meanwhile, a statement by the KKE press office, in view of Chancellor
Merkel's visit to Athens on Tuesday, underlined that the police measures
taken should be met with the appropriate response to be given by the
massive participation in the Communist Party-affiliated PAME trade union
grouping demonstrations.

The KKE also condemned the "show of force displayed by the government
of New Democracy (ND), PASOK and Democratic Left (DEM.AR)".

[15] Current, former finance ministers to be summoned over 'Lagarde List'

The Parliamentary Committee on Institutions and Transparency on Monday
decided to summon Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras and his three
immediate predecessors - Philippos Sahinidis, Evangelos Venizelos and
George Papaconstantinou - to brief the committee concerning the 'Lagarde
list' of Greeks with large Swiss bank accounts.

Papaconstantinou and Venizelos, who is now PASOK party leader, will
brief the committee on Thursday at 10 in the morning and Stournaras and
Sahinidis on Friday.

Meanwhile, Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) head Stelios Stasinopoulos
confirmed during his marathon testimony before the same committee that
checks are under way for 32 political figures, stressing that the number
of those being checked is far greater that those publicised.

Financial crimes prosecutor Grigoris Peponis has received, among others
the testimonies of former finance ministers George Paconstantinou
and Evangelos Venizelos, in the framework of the investigation on the
"Lagarde list".

According to reports, Peponis has asked the Finance ministry to send to
him the accompanying document of the French Economy ministry that was
brought with the controversial list of the 1,991 depositors at the HBS
bank in Switzerland.

Thousands of working people participated in Monday's rally organised
in Syntagma Square in Athens by the General Confederation of Workers
of Greece (GSEE) and the Civil Servants Supreme Administrative Council
(ADEDY) against the measures being promoted and the austerity policy,
with the main slogan calling for a rejection of "the measures that
annihilate society and the economy".

According to the police, demonstrators numbered about six thousand. The
rally was concluded peacefully, while it was addressed by leaders of
the country's main trade unions.

"The Greek working people are sending a message of protest to the
government with a mass struggle and peaceful rallies," said GSEE spokesman
Stathis Anestis.

ADEDY president Costas Tsikrikas, speaking to AMNA, termed the measures
"inhuman and ineffective" and called on working people to reverse the
memorandum and the measures emanating from it.

In light of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Athens on Tuesday,
Tsikrikas noted that "we are not opposed to the German people, but to
the recession policies which Germany imposes to all Europe."

[18] Invitation to draw up a media legislation by Deputy Minister to
the Prime Minister Kedikoglou

Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister responsible for media issues and
Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou on Monday extended an invitation
for cooperation to all democratic forces to jointly and transparently
draw up a legislation that will regulate the media sector for the next
20 years while taking under consideration the human being.

Addressing parliament within the framework of a current question tabled by
main opposition Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) MP Dimitris Papadimoulis
on the operation of television channels broadcasting nationally,
Kedikoglou stated that the government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras
is determined to set up a stable, serious and lasting legal framework.

Kedikoglou stated characteristically that entrepreneurship in the media
sector is necessary, underlining the importance of a properly designed
legal environment. He said that the digital broadcast frequency map
has already been approved, adding that television channels will receive
their licenses based on the specific map and following a public debate.

Eighteen people were arrested in the first hours of Monday as police
stormed the Public Power Corporation's (PPC) data processing center in
northern Athens to break up a takeover of the building by PPC unionists
on Sunday evening who charged that a property tax tacked on to electricity
bills is a "scandal against poor people".

Among those arrested was Nikos Fotopoulos, the president of the GENOP-DEH
union which represents the PPC employees. The arrestees are charged
with disturbing the peace, and are being held at the Attica security
police headquarters.

Fotopoulos had said on Sunday that the take-over will continue until
the "specific data is confirmed", while promising a news conference to
outcome his claims.

Former Armeaments secretary general Yiannis Sbokos testified for
many hours before the investigator of the former PASOK minister Akis
Tsohatzopoulos case on Monday and was remanded in culstody.

The defendant reportedly denied the charge of legalisation of
revenues from illegal activity. According to reports he claims that
Akis Tsohatzopoulos, when he found himself in a bad economic state,
demanded money from him considering that he received "benefits" from
his post at the Armaments Department at the Defence ministry.

Consequently, according to reports, he also explains the references of
the former minister in his notes about money he asked for. He reportedly
claims that he received threats to his life and had been threatened
by phone by Vicky Stamati as well. In 2010, as he reportedly stresses,
his car was burnt as well.

As regards allegations that "black" money had been invested through
the finance company of his father-in-law, Sbokos denied it saying that
the specific company has been checked.

[22] Korean ambassador: Admiration for efforts of Greek people and
government

South Korean ambassador to Athens Gil-Sou Shing expressed admiration
for the efforts of the Greek people and government to exit the economic
crisis, during celebrations for the S. Korean national day at a central
Athens hotel on Sunday evening.

During the event, the ambassador of one of the 20 most powerful economies
of the world (G20) and an important trade partner of Greece also paid
tribute to the Greeks that fought on the Korean War, adding that they
became a bridge between the two countries and the backbone for the
blossoming of bilateral relations.

On bilateral trade relations, the ambassador described as important the
building of Greek-owned merchant ships by Korean shipyards, while he also
said that an increasing number of Koreans were opting for Greece as a
tourist destination, and particularly the Greek islands, with Santorini
as the top destination.

Socialist International (SI) President and foremer Greek prime minister
George Papandreou held a meeting with the geeneral director of the World
Trade Organisation (WTO) Pascal Lamy at the organisation's head office
in Geneva on Monday.

They exchanged views during the meeting on developments in the world
economy and the repercussions of the crisis, the situation in the European
Union and Greece.

Financial News

[24] National Bank: Acquisition of Eurobank a landmark in domestic
banking sector

National Bank's public offer to acquire Eurobank is the most significant
step, so far, in successfully implementing the bank's strategy, which
focuses on adequate and rapid recapitalisation, boosting liquidity,
rationalising operating costs and containing bad debt provisions,
Alexandros Tourkolias, the bank's chief executive, told National Bank's
employees.

Bank sources said Tourkolias, in his message, stressed that this move
will significantly contribute in strengthening the group, restructuring
and consolidating the domestic banking system and helping in the recovery
of the Greek economy.

The acquisition will become a landmark moment for both credit
institutions, since completion of the deal will create a single group
with assets of around 180 billion euros, a leader in the domestic banking
market and one of the top financial groups in Europe.

The new group will operate a network of 925 branches in Greece and 1,700
units in SE Europe, while it will offer significant benefits through
scale economics and operating synergies.

"We have to deal with one of the biggest challenges in the history of
the Greek banking system. The big experience in acquisitions and mergers
by the two managements and the high quality of the two banks' personnel,
are offering me the certainty and optimism over a successful completion
of this very demanding project. Job completion in the new organization
will be made using executives from both banks, in a fully transparency
way. I look forward to welcoming Eurobank's executives and staff in
National Bank's big family soon," National Bank's CEO said.

[25] Gov't to scrap more than 200 market regulations in bid to lower
prices

The development, infrastructure, transport and networks ministry on
Monday unveiled plans to scrap hundreds of largely out-dated market
regulations, reducing them from a current 363 to just 144, in a bid to
cut the administrative burden on businesses that it hopes will lead to
a reduction in prices of products and services.

In a joint press conference with the health ministry, Deputy Development
Minister Athanassios Skordas said many of the market regulations being
abolished were outdated and had been "overtaken" by developments, while
others created 'protected markets' that drove up prices.

Among the changes is a reduction in the weight allowance for packaging
materials that is expected to a 1 percent reduction in prices, changes
in rules for the sale of firewood (by volume instead of by weight),
analytical display of final prices in receipts and menus to include VAT
and other costs and a ban on offering customers any good or service they
have not specifically ordered (bottled water, etc).

The new rules also scrap restrictions on the sale of certain categories
of foods by shops based on building coverage and other restrictions and
obligations, such as that requiring bakeries to hold salt reserves or
operate ovens for cooking food and others.

Concerning measures to restrict fuel scams, Skordas said that the
technical specifications for a system to check inflows and outflows will
be announced next week, while tighter restrictions on pump sealing will
be imposed.

Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras has sent a letter to European
Commissioner responsible for taxation and customs issues Algirdas Semeta
regarding the European Commisssion's proposal on the creation of a
harmonised tax system for fiscal transactions.

The letter stresses the Greek government's support for the harmonised
implementation of the tax on fiscal transactions, based on the European
Commission's proposals, but it is also stressed that the economic
consequences must be evaluated that such a measure will have on issues
concerning tax evasion, distortions, etc.

Greek Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni stressed the importance of
Greece's diaspora in the country's efforts to reform and restructure
its economy, in an interview with the Greek-language "Ethnikos Kyrikas"
newspaper published in New York.

"Our expatriates are the vanguard, they are the first in the battle
for a new Greece and we know this," Kefalogianni said, outlining the
government's goal to promote Greek tourism in the massive North American
market.

Kefalogianni is visiting the United States in order to attend the
Greek Investment Forum 2012 entitled "Greece under Reform: Creating
Growth-Revealing Opportunities" organized by the Athens Exchange and
the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the
Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce in New York and the Hellenic
Republic Asset Development Fund. The forum will take place in October 9 -
11, 2012 at Bloomberg Headquarters.

The minister is due to give a speech on "Tourism, a fundamental pillar
of growth for Greece" and will have a series of meetings with major
tour operators, as well as granting interviews to the American media
designed to promote Greece's tourism abroad in which she will stress
the country's political stability at this time.

Deputy Development Minister Notis Mytarakis departed for the United
States on Monday afternoon to participate in the 1st Investments Forum
that will be jointly organised by the Athens Stock Exchange and the
Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce in New York on October 9-10.

Mytarakis will address the conference that will be taking place at
Bloomberg's headquarters on the theme "Promoting reforms in Greece for
the attraction of investments", in which representatives of funds and
businesess have been invited to participate.

The deputy minister will be having a series of contacts on the sidelines
of the conference with representatives of international investments
capital companies participating in the Greek investments Forum, while he
will also be participating in the press conference for representatives
of the international press.

Foreign investors' participation in the capitalisation of the Athens Stock
Exchange fell to 49.7 pct in September, from 51.5 pct in August and 50.8
pct in September 2011, while Greek investors raised their participation
in the market to 48.8 pct in September from 47.1 pct in August, official
figures showed on Monday.

Foreign investors accounted for 30 pct of turnover in September, down
from 35.2 pct in the previous month, while Greek investors accounted for
45.2 pct of turnover (up from 34.8 pct in August). Greek institutional
investors accounted for 22 pct of turnover in the month.

The value of transactions totaled 1.266 billion euros in September,
up 162.2 pct from August, but down 3.1 pct from September 2011. Average
daily turnover in September was 63.3 million euros, up from 21.94 million
euros in August and down from 59.37 million euros in September.

The number of active investor codes rose to 35,999 in September from
20,025 in August.

The market's capitalisation totaled 28,34 billion euros at the end of
September, up 12.2 pct from a month earlier, but down 12.2 pct from
September 2011.

-- Tourist arrivals at Greek airports fell by 2.46 pct in the
January-September period this year, compared with the corresponding period
in 2011, totaling 10,301,155 visitors, official figures showed on Monday.

Stocks ended lower in the first trading session of the week at the Athens
Stock Exchange as investors took profits ahead of a crucial Eurogroup
meeting and German Chancellor's visit to Athens on Tuesday.

The shares of National Bank and Eurobank jumped higher after the market's
watchdog lifted a share trading suspension. The composite index of the
market eased 0.59 pct to end at 825.09 points, after rising as much as
2.22 pct early in the session. Turnover was a massive 92.827 million
euros.

The yield spread between the 10-year Greek and German benchmark bonds
shrank significantly to 16.99 pct in the domestic electronic secondary
bond market on Monday, from 17.74 pct on Friday, with the Greek bond
yielding 18.38 pct and the German Bund 1.47 pct. There was no turnover
in the market.

In interbank markets, interest rates continued moving lower. The 12-month
rate fell to 0.66 pct, the six-month rate was 0.43 pct, the three-month
rate was 0.22 pct and the one-month rate was 0.11 pct.

The December contract on the FTSE 20 index was trading at a premium of
0.32 pct in the Athens Derivatives Exchange on Monday, with turnover
rising to 27.633 million euros. Volume on the Big Cap index totaled
8,354 contracts worth 12.770 million euros, with 32,177 open positions
in the market.

Two people were injured early afternoon on Monday in an attempted armed
robbery at the Athens Fix metro station.

Police said that two unidentified individuals tried to rob a Western Union
currency exchange office located at the metro station. A 70-year-old
local man and a Bangladeshi national waiting to board a metro train
were slightly injured when one of the robbers dropped his gun, causing
it to discharge.

One of the suspects was arrested shortly after the incident, following
a police chase, police said.

The brother of opposition Chryssi Avgi (Golden Dawn) ultra-right party
MP Elias Kassidiaris is accused of gun possession violation, it was
announced on Monday.

Alexandros Kassidiaris, a Greek army officer, was arrested in a restaurant
in Thessaloniki's Analipsi district when police found in his possession
a CZ 9 mm hand pistol used in firearms training. Owners of such guns
can only use them in shooting galleries and are not allowed to carry
them in public areas.

The Thessaloniki-Evzoni national motorway in northern Greece reopened on
Monday afternoon after being closed to traffic for a couple of hours at
the Akropotamos site as a result of a brushfire which is now extinguished.

Earlier, traffic was diverted to provincial roads for safety reasons as
visibility was poor due to the thick smoke that covered the area.

An explosion in a tram wagon was reported early Monday at the tram
terminal station in Neo Faliro.

Three unknown individuals broke the window of a tram wagon, disembarked an
elderly woman who was on board and afterwards left a bag which contained
five gas canisters and a flammable liquid, set fire to the home-made
incendiary device and fled.

Extensive damage was caused to two tram wagons, but no injuries were
reported

The Thessaloniki-Evzoni national motorway in northern Greece closed on
Monday afternoon at the Akropotamos site as a result of a brushfire
that broke out in the region, it was announced in early afternoon on
Monday. Traffic was diverted to provincial roads, while visibility was
poor due to the thick smoke that covered the area.